Mrs. Craigie’s posthumous novel. “There are six main figures in the book,—Firmalden, the Nonconformist minister, and his sister; the Roman Catholic Lord Marlesford and his wife; Lessard, the musician, and Miss Nannie Cloots, the actress. Among these six the game of love is played with immense confusion.” (Spec.) “The story is one of dreams and of disillusions; it fits its title better than it does the text from which the title is taken. To the meaning of the latter, as made obvious by the context, it seems scarcely to adhere.” (N. Y. Times.)
“We close it with the feeling that here is a fine novel marred by the old lack of sympathetic interest in human nature.”
+ – Acad. 71: 197. S. 1, ’06. 1950w. + – Ath. 1906, 2: 266. S. 8. 450w.
“Under her customary lightness of manner the tone is full of grave sincerity, but this does not mean that the story is a tract—far from it!—or that it is dull. On the contrary, her workmanship has never been more careful or her good sayings more abundant.” Mary Moss.
+ Bookm. 24: 382. D. ’06. 890w.
“The author’s skill in describing the play of light and shadow on the surface of character, her French firmness and lightness of touch, the abundance of epigram and delicately elegant phrase, and the keenness of her observation, in which mingles a slight dash of kindly cynicism, make up a fine story.”
+ Cath. World. 84: 406. D. ’06. 480w. + + Ind. 61: 1347. D. 6, ’06. 550w.
“The characterization, acute enough up to a point, constantly breaks down through the writer’s becoming more interested in the conversation than in the people. She lays herself open to the reproach of talking through her characters instead of letting them talk.”
+ – Lond. Times. 5: 297. Ag. 31, ’06. 1310w.